DC Circuits: The Main Question
by shikyoseinen
Summary: One of the many tales in Circuitsverse is an investigation regarding the fifth grail war between the UK and USA magus association occurring in December 2014 (Featuring Fate Apocrypha's Servant Ruler and Laeticia with DCAU The Question)


**I am not writing for profit whatsoever just a project from my old Fate of Earth16B that didn't work out so well last year. **

**Every DC Circuits story is interrelated with each other so look out for cross-references I make. **

**I suppose now Horo is my rival for DC X FSN Crossovers. **

**The characters don't belong to me. They belong to DC Comics and Type Moon studio.**

**DC Circuits: The Main Question**

The fifth holy grail war.

Taking place in the year 2014, the holy grail was mysteriously returned to its rightful place in Fuyuki City 10 years previously. 7 masters were selected and the war ended in tragedy, resulting with the infamous Fuyuki Fire.

The world was shaken from the incident, blaming the metahumans for committing terrorist acts in civilian areas. The culprits behind the incident were never caught but the scars left behind remains in the hearts of the people in Fuyuki for the rest of their lives.

As for the thieves responsible for the theft? They were also never caught by the magi groups; hiding in the shadows without a trace.

It isn't until 10 years later that an anonymous tip was sent to both the UK and USA magus association. A new grail war is approaching; only this time the stakes are higher than ever before as the total number of servants have increased to **49**; allowing more participants to join the battle royale.

The unexpected news of the upcoming war also broke the relationship between the UK and USA Magus association.

In other words, the grail war also serves as the magi version of the Cold War.

The war will take place on 1st December 2014; lasting for a month before the beginning of the New Year.

As such as the nature of the grail war has been distorted an overseer has been summoned by the greater grail.

SEARCH ... BEGIN

SEARCH ... COMPLETE

PERFECT MATCH.

PHYSICAL BUILD ... COMPATIBLE

SPIRITUAL BUILD ... COMPATIBLE

PERSONALITY ... COMPATIBLE

PRANA ... COMPATIBLE

BEGIN POSSESSION VIA PROVISIONAL SEALING OF FORMER PERSONALITY AND SPIRITUAL INSTALLATION OF HEROIC SPIRIT.

FORMER PERSONALITY CLEARANCE ... RECEIVED

CROSS-DOMAIN BASE ANATOMY BACKUP ... BEGIN

INSTALLATION COMPLETE.

BEGIN ADAPTATION OF PHYSICAL BUILD AND SPIRITUAL BUILD.

ASSIGNMENT OF CLASS SKILLS ... BEGIN

BEGIN INSERTION OF DATA PERTAINING TO ALL HEROIC SPIRITS AND MODERN ERA AS REQUIRED.

BACKUP ... COMPLETE

CLASS SKILL ASSIGNED. SKILL {SAINTHOOD} OPTION {HOLY SHROUD CREATION} CHOSEN.

INSERTION OF REQUIRED DATA COMPLETE.

ADAPTATION COMPLETE.

ALL CLEAR.

CLASS {RULER} SERVANT ACTUALIZATION COMPLETE.

One night, A teenage girl from France became servant Ruler of the fifth grail war. Being a servant of the greater grail, she is independent on her own without the aid of magi to anchor her in the living world nor does she has to devour souls.

The girl's name is Laeticia, a female student from a boarding school in France which her physical makeup is almost identical to servant Ruler. From there, the servant will possess the human girl as a vessel to exist in the living world.

" So we're really going to leave?" For some reason, the possessed girl can communicate with the heroic spirit. Ruler was baffled by the unexpected twist but the summoning from the greater grail is something she should not question at all.

"That's correct." Both girls are conversing in french as it is expected that the human host has the same race and heritage with the heroic spirit.

"Just one more thing..." The human host requested something before they leave. " Can you not cut my hair? I just had mine braid yesterday..." She asked sheepishly.

"If the hair is too long, I'm afraid it'll get in the way..." Ruler protested. She remembered having long hair back when she was a peasant girl only to cut it short when she took up arms to fight. Over time, her hair grew back which is similar with Lateicia.

"Please..." Inside the mind of the human host, Laeticia begged her mind roommate.

"Oh alright." The servant dropped the pair of scissors she's holding. Normally, her words would make people believe but sadly this does not include her talking companion inside her mind.

"My dear are you finished?" The Dorm-mother interrupted the mind-link conversation. She doesn't seem to be under the effects of hypnotism but her willingness to allow a student to leave the student dormitory late at night after curfew is questionable at best considering that she is strict with the students under her care.

"I'm done here!" Ruler replied. Packing her bags with nothing but the clothes on her back which consists of her school uniform and everyday clothes including her own expenses, the servant is ready to venture as her mission is to investigate the crime of the previous grail theft and dealing with the culprits behind the incident.

Additionally, she brought along her human host's homework and a small box of macarons for the journey.

Waiting outside is a driver from the student dormitory as a teacher volunteered herself to drive the servant to the airport after being asked to by the heroic spirit herself. After all, they were told that there is an emergency she must attend to and needed the transport for travel.

The same goes while she was in the airport, the nature of her mission is important which allowed everybody willing to help her out even if they don't completely understand why. As far as everybody involved with her travelling plans is concerned, they simply have faith that the girl is not taking advantage of their charity.

The trip to Britain wasn't difficult, her revelation skill allows her to take the best course of action. Hence, buying a plane ticket was an easy task with less questions asked from anybody with the possibility of recognizing the possessed girl.

* * *

**2nd December 2014**

Clocktower.

The main headquarters for the UK Magus Association. It is also a place where magi gather for their Thaumaturgy studies and experiments on various fields despite the declining rate of magecraft since the end of the age of gods.

This is also the place where Ruler will announce her presence to Clocktower's director about her involvement in the distorted grail war.

A meeting has been scheduled bright early in the morning with Ruler and her human host having nothing but a sliced toast with orange marmalade for breakfast. The trip to Cloktower from their inn in London has been an experience as they walked towards their destination on foot.

"...And with this, we have Servant Ruler to attend for the war." A crystal ball is present inside the director's office as the face of the USA's Magus association director can be seen from Ruler's point of view, Both men intrigued her attention or to be more precise Laeticia's attention as she is the backseat passenger inside her own mind as Ruler is taking charge of the body.

The servant's ears twitched; hearing someone writing down notes as fast as he could. The person in question frightened Laeticia for his face does not have eyes, ears nor a mouth for her to identify. He is dressed in blue suit with a bowler hat along with a necktie the student is reminded of the male teacher she has a crush on back in school.

"Question?"

Ruler's attention is brought back to the director. " Ah no no questions." said the servant.

The director chuckled in amusement like a grandfather. " Not you my dear, I mean him." He referred to the faceless man inside his office. " Anything you would like to add? An opinion perhaps?" His tone of voice suggested that he is expecting something from the pink elephant in the room. the same goes for the USA's director from the crystal ball as he gazed his eyes towards the man in a bowler hat.

"None." The faceless man answered. " For now." He kept his notebook inside his breast pocket. "I'll be asking the questions later. On my own terms." He emphasized on the last part clearly towards the director. Being a freelancer means that he doesn't take orders from anybody but himself.

_I don't like him. _Inside Ruler's mind, Laeticia gave her own opinion about the man. It's already enough that she feels intimidated by his lack of facial features she can't read but the way he responds brought out his arrogance.

The servant on the other hand, agreed with her statement. Being a leader once in her previous life, she had the chance to meet many people under her command alongside meeting enemies with various personalities. The faceless man reeks of mistrust and skepticism. For a moment, the servant doubted her own skill to talk with the man like she did with Laeticia's roommate and teachers before she makes the journey to London.

The meeting resumed with both directors arguing regarding the current conflict with the servant taking as much information as possible from their squabble. Laeticia remains to be confused by the information input as the teenage girl has yet to fully understand the new world she has been brought into despite the possession of the servant summoned by the greater grail.

The Faceless Man or The Question seems to be the second person in the room to fully capture every word from the argument. The gears in his brain must be rotating twice the servant can possible achieve with the human body she's anchored into as he took down as many notes he can possibly write down on his little notepad.

From what the servant has gathered, various magi are already starting to cause trouble that could attract the attention of military forces alongside with their _psychics; _biological weapons to intervene with the magi cold war. One incident in particular took place in the middle of nowhere in America with the culprit behind the destruction is unknown to the USA association.

The meeting continued inside the director's office with the faceless man continuing to write down his notes. Ruler took in as much information as possible; a heated argument between two important people in their respective magi associations did not bothered her thought process to organize the information overload in her brain.

Her human host on the other hand, seems to prefer _ignorance is bliss_ as she was not able to digest the various terminologies contained the argument between both directors.

* * *

"Name's Question." The meeting ended two hours later in a peaceful manner much to the faceless man's surprise. According to his notes, the tension between both associations has several magi picking fights with each other in the past before the fifth war was announced to both sides of the conflict. As of right now, he introduced himself to the servant he's been assigned with.

"Ruler." The servant answered. The man she is forced to work with is nothing like Gilles De Rais back in her previous life which makes it more difficult than what she is used to with the noble knight.

As of right now, both individuals are expected to work together by both directors to investigate. The grail theft back in the dawn of world war II remains to be unsolved and the culprits behind the grail's re-appearance may have been responsible for the current situation. The tension between both sides are simply too convenient which is why ruler is being summoned in the first place.

"So if we're going to work together we need to settle down a few ground rules..." The Question immediately took charge. As the adult man of the investigation team, he felt the need to be in charge of the teenage girl under his wing.

_Hey he's going to control us already?_ Laeticia complained' audible for the servant to hear inside her mind.

"That won't be necessary." said Ruler. " I don't need a babysitter for this assignment. I can do this on my own." _You said it._ Laeticia supported Ruler's decision. They can just ditch the creepy faceless man and investigate the case on their own without dragging excessive baggage.

"And that's where you're wrong mademoiselle."

_Creep_ The human girl cringed in horror.

"Please don't call me that." Ruler complained.

"Eventually I will." The Question responded. "for now I will call you Missy if you think mademoiselle is too much." He added. " Need to improve on my french." Technically, his french accent needs work. "Tell you what." He offered a suggestion. " There is this neat cafe nearby I want to check out. Care to join me for a late breakfast?" He then whispered into her ear after making sure there are no eavesdroppers in the corridor. _" I think they have alien cats bent on world domination for employees."_

"Huh?" Metaphorically speaking, Ruler and Laeticia would have glanced at each other in confusion from his words. Just their luck they are being paired up with a weirdo without a face.

_Weirdo..._

_I agree with you. _

* * *

_Awkward._

Another word the servant agreed with her human host.

It is also a word Ruler would use at situations like this to describe her current predicament. This situation at hand reminded her of her friend Gille back in France. One difference between both noble knight and the man she's having tea with is that the latter has no face at all...literally.

"You'll get used to it (Geh!)" Ruler made an unlady-like gasp as the man she's having tea with answered her own thoughts like telepathy. The cafe is located not far from Clocktower and the place is quite well known among the staff for its tea. The servant wanted to try it out for herself as her human host requires food and water to survive; craving for English tea in the morning.

As for the alien cat employees bent on world domination? He crossed out the restaurant's name from his list. The servant managed to sneak a peak; not knowing what to say from what seems to be a long list of names being crossed out.

Being an overseer of the 5th war, Ruler possessed the body of an ordinary teenage girl named Laeticia from France due to their similar race and heritage. Dressed in a school uniform, she looks out of place compared to other patrons in the cafe. Being able to talk with the human host does not seem to disturb the servant at all.

What made the heroic spirit feel self-conscious about her current situation that she is having breakfast with an adult male clearly not related by blood judging from his appearance. Her eyes and ears caught several patrons gossiping about the pair which would made her want to re-assess their speculation about her relationship with the man.

Inside her mind, Laeticia pondered if somebody would take a picture of them and posts into the internet; possibly creating a misunderstanding which may affect her reputation one way or another.

"We're superheroes from America and France." was all it took to convince the patrons that they are not doing anything suspicious. From Ruler's observation, the local superheroes and possibly super-villains receive less flak from the masses in London considering that the community are accepted by the people compared to their american cousins.

It also helps that it was the servant convincing the patrons with those words.

Speaking of her partner, The Question is wearing a blue colored suit with a bowler hat; clearly an an adult man with similar fashion taste with everyone else.

But, this normal man lacks a face; disturbing the other patrons and the only reason why he's not being told to leave is because the employees are too nervous to approach other words, his personality is less than pleasant than what the servant expected. He asks the strangest questions; embarrassing the poor servant as he chewed out on the employees about his conspiracies.

Being the overseer of the 5th grail war, she has a lot of work to handle because there are **49** servants being summoned for the battle Royale. The UK and USA Magus association are waging war and there is little time for fun and games.

And her working partner stands out like a sore thumb.

"Any thoughts?" The Question asked. On the table, a piece of paper with a list of names being circled grabbed both their attention. The names are suspects of moles from both magus associations. One of them are either the thief or an association with the thief who stole the grail after the end of world war II.

Ruler frowned. The list of names are people with powerful influence with their respective magus associations; making their job more difficult to sniff out the culprit. The directors from both groups agreed to have Ruler and the Question to conduct a private investigation about the moles and so far they have little lead about the case. The list of names came from The Question's own private search previously and there is little if not no follow up to solidify his claim.

One name that caught the servant's eye is the surname Tohsaka. Inside her mind, the human host glanced at the heroic spirit and the name on the piece of paper back and forth; feeling nervous about how her new friend reacted. After all, the grail downloaded information regarding the three magi families related with the creation of the grail system.

"None. I don't even know where you are basing these claims from..." Ruler stated. Her cup of tea on her saucer, she picked up the paper to get a better look on the list of names listed down on the paper. " If these are our only lead we can't continue with this." She admitted; giving the older man a look though her effort seems fruitless because she can't even tell his facial expression behind the faceless mask he's wearing.

"Previous investigations. You'll be surprised how much I learn from their dirty laundry." The Question answered. "They bring reality TV into shame with all their secrets and lies..." the faceless man grumbled; waving his teacup around. "They're all hiding something, one of them's got to be the culprit we're looking for." The grail is a secret only a magus would know of its existence. Furthermore, only magi would want to exploit such dangerous object of power.

_If they are really are the people we're looking for..._Laeticia commented from her own mind.

"Considering IF we get to the bottom of everyone's...dirty laundry-" Ruler responded. " They will kill **you** for peeking into their secrets." She stated the obvious.

"That's where you come in mademoiselle." The Question chuckled; sipping his tea. "The muscle of the group." Partnering up with servant Ruler guaranteed much trouble to his disdain but the possibility of encountering the perpetrators behind the case is too high for him not to risk his own life on the line for the job.

"Stop. You're creeping me out..." She felt her spine tingling from his words. Normally she wouldn't act very rude to somebody but facing a man with no face is not within her job description.

Even Laeticia felt the cold chill in her own mind.

"Just trying to be friendly..." He put down his cup of tea onto its saucer. _Still a kid..._

The teenage servant couldn't help but blink at the sight of The Question's empty cup of tea. The gear in her head rotated; wondering how he pull off such feat when she clearly can't see his mouth beneath his mask. "Please work on your people skills Question..." Ruler begged.

"Back to business. With Shirou Emiya arriving in Britain last night, the entire team representing Clocktower is complete." The Question affirmed.

The arrival of the the magus killer's son to join the grail war met with controversies but a certain **fae** vouched for the boy. The association couldn't refuse her request being an important figure from the Arthurian legends. It's even more infuriating that the director and vice-director Lorelei herself approved of the **fae's** decision much to everybody;s dislike.

"Just between you and me, what do you think of these two?" He asked; showing a photo of the servant battle in Tintagel last night. "A teenage vigilante and a knight. Piques my interest to see how they're going to last in this war." he passed out his notebook containing the information he gathered from last night at Tintagel.

The notes he gathered regarding the master servant pair intrigued the servant's attention. For starters, the boy Shirou Emiya is tagged with several text boxes mentioning that he is a teenage vigilante from Japan and the son of the the infamous magus killer.

As for the servant, the circled name Saber is tagged with [?] across the page of the small notebook. It indicated that the faceless man has yet to determine the identity of the servant.

Both Shirou Emiya and Servant Saber differs from each if taking into account that the former is the son of the infamous magus killer while the latter is a knight from Medieval England.

"From a neutral point of view." He added.

"From what I am reading here he was attacked by Assassin last night but he puts up a good fight against the wraiths." Ruler gave her opinion; impressed by such feat. "Servant Archer and his master Rin Tohsaka was present at the scene but it was Saber who dealt the killing blow to Assassin." She commented. "You wrote here death from unknown weapon." Ruler pointed out. " You don't know whether the servant is using a noble phantasm or not from their fight?"

"Unfortunately no I was not able to obtain that information. I wasn't there when she killed him." The servant and her human host noticed the grumbling tone in his voice. " Mark my words I will find out eventually but enough about them-" He quickly changed the subject. "- Let's hear about the rest shall we?" he suggested. "Caster's master."

A photo of a pretty woman was placed onto the table. She may be in a wheelchair but she clearly took care of herself.

"Fiore. A charming woman. former family member of Yggdmillennia coming to serve the UK magus association as a freelancer against her will. Currently under surveillance also by yours truly." The servant and Laeticia heard a smug tone in his voice. "Oh, and she's in her 30s."

Ruler took in the new information in strife. The footnotes from the notebook page informed her that the female magus was associated with Yggdmillennia family 10 years previously before the fourth war. The Question also wrote down that she was sent into trial by Clocktower after a certain raid was conducted a decade ago. **  
**

Laeticia on the other hand, was marveled by her beauty. Much to her annoyance, the man working together with her new friend complimented the woman in the photo in front of two other girls in his presence.

"I see." Ruler took charge. " I'm surprised the UK magi community are quite lenient with her." She admitted. "Anything special about her that caught their attention?"

"Jealous?" The Question asked knowingly like a perverted old man teasing his young charge. The amused tone in his voice did not escape the girls's ears as they reacted accordingly within his expectations: denial.

"**No**!" Ruler answered immediately. There is no way she would feel jealous against a disabled person. If she has to be jealous of her, it has to be fact that the master doesn't have to tolerate working with a faceless man with no tact.

On the other hand, Laeticia also responded the question at the same time though her reasons doing do is more down to earth than Ruler. Unlike the servant, she does felt a ping of jealousy that she was left out of the equation like she's not even here to give her own opinion. Being a teenager lacking real world experience, the first thing that comes to mind is that the female magus was left with a slap on the wrist for being a pretty lady.

"Whatever you say Missy..." The Question picked up his teacup from the saucer; enjoying the angry look from his young charge. It is clear that he is enjoying her embarrassment. _Heroic spirit or not, you are still a teenager. _He thought to himself. Despite not having a visible mouth, he can still drink his tea with no problem at all. It tickled his funny bone that his partner in this investigation can be so easily teased with nothing but words and he doesn't need to use innuendos to annoy her.

_He's really getting on my nerves..._Laeticia relay her thoughts to Ruler through their mind-link.

_Like it or not, he's going to work with us._ Ruler responded. D_itch him and we'll need to watch our backs against this guy._ She theorized the worst possibility from breaking their partnership this early in the war. _The last thing we need is more problems to deal with._

_Doesn't mean I have to like it..._

_I don't like it either but please Laeticia just bear with me until we catch the culprits. _

_...Ok but if this guy keep bugging us We might as well leave him to the dust. _

This made Ruler smirked subconsciously from her human host's suggestion. _I'll think about it. _

"Why don't we move on to a much more lighter topics? Getting to know each other before we begin the assignment." The Question interrupted their mind-link conversation; prompting the servant to pay attention to the man across the table. "Need someone to swap conspiracy ideas anyway."

"What kind of question would that be?" Ruler asked.

"A question someone as ancient like you can give opinion about."

"Go on..." Ruler purposely ignored his remark; egging him to go with the question so she can get it over with. Needless to say, she applied slightly more pressure on the handle of her teacup without breaking it.

_I can't believe he calls you old in your face..._

"Which one comes first? The chicken? Or the egg?" A question regarding creation of life indeed. Someone from the past may have their opinion regarding such mind-boggling question a modern person like himself may have overlooked. "That is the main question." He added flowery words o spice things up.

Coincidentally, Milk Man the British superhero passed them in his milk float on the streets. For a brief moment, he looked at the faceless man having tea with a young french girl in her school uniform. The young lady look like she was told something ludicrous as her facial expression twisted; affecting her youthful beauty which reminded him of his wife when she's furious with him on certain occasions back home. Figuring that their conversation is none of his business, he carried on driving his vehicle.

_...I quit Let's ditch him. _

_That may come sooner than you think._

"Just messing with you." The Question joked. "In all seriousness the main question is about where do we go from here?" He asked the servant; as if hoping to hear an answer from heroic spirit.

Ruler immediately frowned. She finally felt a tense atmosphere radiating from the faceless man; sighing in relief that he's finally taking the unlikely partnership seriously after what seems to be a distracting conversation from their late breakfast.

"One, we can't get ourselves involved with servant battles unless our lives are truly in jeopardy." He wrote the mission statement in his little notebook. "No matter what happens, we can't risk you or I being killed by a servant attack from either side in this war." Being an information broker for both USA and UK magus association, he is indeed a target for any magi and servant from both sides of the conflict to obtain information he gathered. The same goes for the servant as she is not one of the 7 classes.

Inside Ruler's mind, Laeticia gulped nervously hearing the possibility of being killed.

'Two. We don't have anything solid to make a claim, We need something before this war ends next month." He emphasized on the last two words to show he dire their situation is. "We'll start with the UK magus association first. I would like to have a few words with the masters..." he offered an idea to start the investigation.

"Let's go then." Ruler stood up from her seat. It is still morning but the tension is as thick as fog covering the entire city with soot. There is little time to waste from worrying about the safety of their lives over a mystery that needs to be solved.

She glared at their surroundings, feeling the presence of servants nearby but they could be from the magus association mentioned by The Question. Nevertheless, Ruler is dead set to draw her weapon against anybody stopping her from tainting the sacred grail war from fulfilling its purpose.

and to find whoever it is responsible for the theft and the disappearance of the relic for many years previously.

In her head, _**the main question** _now would be-

Who dares to get in her way?

**END **

**Like before, DC Circuits is its own continuity with references from the new 52 and possibly elements before the reboot being used in the series.**

**Milkman is an actual DC Superhero from Batman Knight and Squire. About the British super community receiving less or no flak compared to USA? Also from the comic.**

**Anyway, Fate Apochyra showed that Ruler can't chat with her human host but here in DC Circuits it is made possible if the human herself is a meta/psychic.**

**Alien cats are obviously a reference to Neko-arc and friends. **

**Read and review!**


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